A Bubble in Space
by Mystic Pendulum
Summary: They were a lonely capsule of life in the cold, cold, space. But that didn't mean Riku felt lonely or cold himself. Riku/Sora


written for oathkeeper-oblivion's birthday over at tumblr

* * *

Drifting through interworld space on the Gummi Ship was equal parts boring and exhausting.

Boring, because empty space was empty space and there was nothing to see; nothing to focus on. The human mind was rarely a patient one, so when there was nothing of interest to devote itself to, energy would overflow and spill out to touch everything at once, creating poorly-formed, fleeting thoughts that leave a haze behind when they vanish.

Exhausting, because whichever two poor souls who were piloting at the moment had to regularly scan said empty space for any armadas of Heartless. After all, there was no such thing as being _too _careful, and that was especially true when the nearest world— where they could land and make repairs— was thousands of miles away.

They were an isolated capsule of life in the in-between. That particular thought lingered rather strongly in Riku's mind as he stared down at the chessboard, which Kairi had pulled out after relieving Sora from his shift.

"Well, aren't you getting poetic," she remarked, taking out one of Riku's knights. "Too bad poetry doesn't help you win in chess."

Oh. Riku dragged the palm of his hand over his face. "Did I just say that out loud?"

"Yes, you did. It was very profound and lonesome and now I know why you got the top grade in our poetry unit. Also, checkmate."

Riku glanced down at the board again, blinking upon the realization that his king was cornered by Kairi's own king and her two bishops. Well then. "For someone who's even more reckless than Sora when it comes to charging into battle, you're ridiculously good at this game," he teased.

"Nah, you're just being your overdramatic poetic self and not paying attention. I expect an epic about me in my next birthday card," she replied with a wink.

She held out her hand, and Riku dug into this pocket and pressed ten munny into her palm. He stood up from his seat and stretched, but much to his dismay, it was cut short when his hands bumped into the ceiling.

Kairi laughed at the sight. "The one time it must suck being tall. Sora really needs to make this place bigger."

Riku flicked her lightly on the forehead. "That's the first thing I'm going to make him do once we land." He gazed out the window for a moment, eyes darting as he scanned for anything that broke the seamless black void, before he added, "And I'm going to the bathroom."

"Mmkay." Kairi hummed, kicking her feet up on the dash. "Can you get the pack of cards on your way back? I think they're under Sora's bed."

* * *

Perhaps not so surprisingly, Sora managed to fall asleep with less than half his body on the cot.

Less than half, because Sora's head and neck were in their proper places on the pillow, but below that, his arms were askew, his waist was pressed against the metal frame of the cot, and his legs were sprawled haphazardly on the floor. Riku surveyed this disarray with a simultaneous grimace and smile.

Being a Keyblade Master (even if Sora wasn't one officially, Riku still called him that in his head anyways; he was too much his equal not to be), Sora was undoubtedly talented in many areas. He was good at fighting, he had an uncanny knack for befriending nearly everyone, and he rarely, _rarely_ failed to light up the room with his smile.

Some of his more unusual talents apparently included falling asleep in a painful position.

Well, even if it wasn't painful now, it was going to be painful later. Riku was pretty sure that even Sora was susceptible to the woes of back pain.

Bending down, Riku grabbed Sora by the ankles and hauled the rest of him onto the thin mattress with a grunt. Sora was goddamn heavy, even if his skinny frame seemed otherwise. He rearranged Sora's arms so they were lying neatly by his sides before getting onto his hands and knees, sweeping his hand through the underside of the cot and fishing out a standard pack of 52 cards.

Or at least, Riku hoped they were standard. There was no guarantee when it came to Sora's belongings.

He tugged the blanket over Sora's shoulders for a good measure, then leaned down to press his lips lightly against Sora's temple, his unruly hair tickling Riku's nose.

As Riku pulled away though, a hand reached out, grabbing the back of his neck and yanking him back down. Sora's eyes were open now, half-lidded and relaxed, just a little hazy from sleep. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," Riku murmured in return.

"I barely felt that, you know, so you should do it again. On the mouth."

Riku smirked. "But you didn't feel me lift your lazy ass back into bed?" he quipped, but he let Sora guide him into a kiss, tilting his head a little so their noses wouldn't collide. He felt Sora's hand move up to smooth through the hair on the back of his head.

"Iuno," Sora mumbled against his mouth, breaking the kiss but without moving away. "But I think I might have dreamt it." He squirmed to the other side of the cot, lifting up the blanket in invitation. "C'mere."

Riku skeptically eyed the sliver of mattress that Sora was offering. But Sora was smiling at him, arms open, looking like he was the currently the comfiest person in the whole universe, even though he was, in actuality, lying down on a shaky metal cot in a lonely capsule in space.

"Sorry Kairi!" Riku shouted in the direction of the cockpit, dropping the cards to the floor, before toeing off his shoes and climbing in.

"Don't worry about me. You boys better remember to use protection!" Kairi called back, teasingly. Sora guffawed, while Riku choked.

The cot creaked dangerously under their combined weight. Sora pressed himself as far back as he could against the wall, twisting to lie on his side so he could free up just a little more room. Once Riku was more or less settled in, Sora shifted himself upwards and wrapped his arms around Riku's shoulders, pulling so that Riku's head was comfortably tucked under his chin. "Told you we'd fit," he said, grinning into Riku's hair.

"I never said we couldn't," Riku mumbled in reply, sliding an arm around Sora's waist and petting the small of his back. Sora was still shorter than Riku was, with thinner arms and shoulders that were only just starting to fill out, but he always held with a loving intensity that more than made up for it.

He was in a bubble of warm in a capsule flying through the lonely in-between. But as Riku drifted off, he figured that didn't really matter right now.


End file.
